Automating networks to keep pace with the speed of innovation helps increase enterprise efficiency, profit
Software-Defined Networking, or SDN, could be the single- biggest opportunity for operational improvement in mobile networks since the transition from circuit to packet switching. Brocade’s strategy for enabling “the New IP” embraces this trend to bring customized, industry-specific networks to every enterprise.
A major component of SDN’s programmable nature is open source. Opening network interfaces to the vast and quickly growing community of coders has changed the way that Brocade develops software. As an industry leader in reliable, high-performance network solutions, Brocade is embracing the knowledge that being open and inclusive ultimately enables platform customization and faster time-to-market so enterprises can keep pace with the speed of innovation.
In a presentation at Mobile World Congress 2015 in Barcelona, Spain, Brocade Chief Architect of Open Source Tom Nadeau said, “There have been a lot of advantages for having a lot of different eyeballs looking at the code. Open source is bringing new opportunities to areas that stagnated in the past.”
With the power of SDN, formerly hands- on business processes such as provisioning, modification, monitoring, and troubleshooting become largely automated. This reduces customer-facing interactions, which, in turn, improves satisfaction ratings while reducing both capital and operating expenses.
Brocade’s SDN solutions have been successfully used for service assurance through flow optimization in Wide Area Networks (WANs), primarily by deploying SDN-enabled devices both at the cloud provider edge and client ingress, with both devices communicating to the cloud provider’s SDN controllers.
SDN also improves security since global threat thresholds can be implemented via an SDN controller and automatically monitored across disparate network and security systems, with predefined remediation actions. Other use cases include service improvement through easily orchestrated virtual network services and service differentiation through rapid customization.
Opening interfaces into the mobile backhaul infrastructure with dynamic technologies such as Self-Optimizing Network (SON) and Policy and Charging Rules Function (PCRF) nodes is making the New IP a reality. Because these new interfaces support fast prototyping models and easy configuration, they are driving a “build it” culture where coders build and test products in a relatively short period of time.
This is in sharp contrast to previous product development cycles, where Nadeau observed that, “In the past, service providers could afford to take…many, many years developing a standard, then developing a service, then having vendors deploy that gear.”
Today, that amount of time is a luxury. A good example of how things are changing is the Open Config project, which has caught the attention of a consortium of service providers such as Google, Facebook, AT&T, Verizon, and Deutsche Telekom. Open Config is fast becoming a model for how major tech players develop products. Google, for example, uses this approach in service production—–a process that used to take years, but now takes just a few months, greatly enhancing agility and responsiveness.
Brocade is further demonstrating its belief in the promise of open-source SDN architecture through OpenDaylight, a Linux Foundation Project that unites industry leaders in developing an open SDN platform in a vendor-neutral environment. This project is the basis of the Brocade SDN Controller, which utilizes an open-source architecture that allows customers to better protect their investments, quickly develop and monetize applications, and minimize risk.
Separating rules and topologies associated with SGi-LAN functions from forwarding functions greatly improves dynamic decision-making with SDN-based service chaining.
In addition, SDN breaks down the organizational barriers that typically create inefficiencies in the service chaining process. Brocade has the expertise to remove these barriers and, in turn, allow an enterprises to conduct service chain management functions without being forced to overcome network lag. The enlivened process provides adopters with the ability to improve productivity and gain a competitive edge.
As Nadeau puts it, “Through open source projects, not only are traditional standards becoming more and more irrelevant—de facto standards are emerging. What happens is not just the hacker culture…but the build- it culture.”
In the end, Nadeau said what an enterprise builds is not nearly as important as how it was built. A project that creates useful protocols that can serve as the foundation for future innovation is far more useful than the product itself. An open, collaborative approach is key. He said, “Builders and doers are the winners going forward.”
For more information, check out Brocade’s take on SDN innovation and use cases as well as an overview of how open source figures into the overall Brocade value proposition.
Also, visit Brocade.com and TheNewIP.net for info on all things Brocade and The New IP.
